Clearance marker light



CLEARANCE MARKERl LIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 8, 1964 aww /V j//lf 14A Jan. 18, 1966 D. Gi TILLINGHAsT ETAL 3,230,494

CLEARANCE MARKER LIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 8, 1964 y )yy/INVENTORS Array/Vif:

United States Patent O 3,230,494 CLEARANCE MARKER LlGHT David G. Tillinghast, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Wagn Trautner, Overiand Park, Kans., assignors to Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 8, 1964, Ser. No. 381,136 6 Claims. (Cl. 339-97) This invention relates to clearance marker lights which are mounted on a roadway vehicle and which are connected to a conductive cable by a screw or pin piercing the cable to make contact to the conductive core therein; and more specifically, the invention is directed to means for guiding the piercing pins into contact with the conductive cable.

The invention is an improvement in the invention disclosed in patent issued to Black, No. 3, 087,051. That patent discloses a trailer having a conductive cable disposed in a groove extending around the upper portion of the trailer and a plurality of clearance marker lights each adapted to be fastened to the trailer in a position overlying the groove and cable. Each marker light has a screw electrically connected to a light bulb and projecting from the base in a position to pierce the cable when the marker light is fastened to the trailer. This invention has proved to be very successful, particularly in reducing the cost of installing marker lights. The application of the invention to trailers has saved about fifty cents for each marker light installed.

It has been the objective of the present invention to improve upon the marker light of that patent by providing structure which assures the makingof desired electrical contact between the piercing pin and the conductive core on installat-ion and thereby eliminating the adverse effects of carelessness in the mounting of the marker lights.

If in installing the marker lights, the workmen are not careful, it is possible for the piercing pin to be canted slightly. This canting results into two possible defects in the installation. First, the pin could miss the conductive core entirely or make such a minimal contact with the core that it could not perform satisfactorily as a conductive contact. Second, the pin could engage the surrounding metal of the trailer and short out the system.

The invention eliminates these two possible defective installations and provides additional advantages, as will be described below, by providing a guide for the piercing pin which projects from the base of the marker light into the cable carrying groove. The guide has a bore which, when the marker light is in position, has an axis aligned with the center of the cable. The piercing pin is guided as it passes through the bore and engages the center of the conductive core of the cable.

The guide is preferably congurated so that its outside surface snugly engages the walls forming the cable receiving groove thereby blocking any movement of the guide transversely with respect to the groove. Further the guide preferably has its projecting end concavely configurated so as to receive the cable in the concavity. This concavity not only assures a perfect alignment between the piercing pins and the cable core, but additionally forms a seal between the insulative material in the cable and the surface of the guide which prevents the seepage of water to the pin which might tend to cause a shorting out of the system.

The guide can be a block molded integrally with the base of the marker light or it can be a separate bushing which is seated in the base of the marker light. The separate bushing is preferred, for with the separate bushing it is easier to hold tolerances and thereby to assure centering exact depth of penetration and other critical aspects of the making of the electrical connection.

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It has been still another objective of the invention to provide marker lights of the type described, each having a -separate guide bushing, the bushing having a concave end surface adapted to engage the cable, the bushing and marker light base having cooperating conligurated surfaces which fix the position of the bushing and its concave surface so that the axis of the concavity is parallel to the axis of the conductor when the marker light is in position on the trailer.

While the invention will be described with particular reference to its location in the upper portion or quarter panel of a trailer, it should be well understood that the invention can be appl-ied to the lower rub rail or to any other portion of the vehicle structure wherein it is possible and advisable to dispose a cable in a groove adapted to receive a piercing connection to complete the electrical circuit to the bulb within the light. Further, the invention is not necessarily restricted to marker lights, but can be applied to other vehicle lights such as the brake lights, turn signal lights, and the like.

These and other objectives of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction With the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a plan View of a marker light having its lens removed, the marker light being installed on a trailer,

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 2 2 of FIG. l,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the guide bushing, and

FIG. 5 is a disassembled perspective view illustrating the assembly of the marker light to the trailer.

Referring to the drawings, a marker light, indicated at 1t), is shown mounted on a quarter panel 11 which in the illustrated embodiment is an extruded aluminum section. The quarter panel is a term of the art which refers to the rail which extends horizontally around the top of the trailer. The quarter panel is channel shaped and has an over hanging ange 12 to which the roof sheets are fastened and a lower flange 13 which is mounted on the upper edge of the walls of the trailer. Between the two flanges is a longitudinally extending groove 15 which receives a cable 16 having a conductive core 17 surrounded by insulative or dielectric material 18. The groove has side walls 19 which extend outwardly beyond the cable. The quarter panel may also have a wide trough 20 providing side walls 21 between which the groove 15 is centered.

In the illustrated form of the invention a circular marker light is shown and it should be understood that the invention has application to any conguration of marker light. The marker light preferably has a base 22 of rubber or other insulative, resilient material. Rubber is selected because of its low cost and because of its characteristic ability to absorb vibrations which might tend to damage the marker light structure.

When the marker light is secured to the base, a lens 23, shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, may be snapped into position on the base and held there by a mating lip and groove between the base and lens, as indicated at 24.

A metallic back up plate 26 overlies rnost of the inside surface of the base to provide the needed rigidity of the base and to provide structure for the mounting of a light bulb 27 on the marker light. The bulb 27 is mounted in a socket 2S, the socket being fixed to a bracket 29 which is welded, or otherwise secured, to the plate 26. A pair of screws 33 pass through the bracket 29, plate 26, base 22 to threaded holes 34 in the quarter panel and ground the socket to the quarter panel as well as secure the marker light to the quarter panel.

As indicated, the ground connection to the bulb is made by the attachment of the bracket 29 to the quarter panel the bracket being connected to the ground side of the socket 28 by a conductive pigtail 37. The other side of the electrical connection to the bulb is made Iby a conductor 38 which is secured by a connector 39 and a piercing screw 46 to the conductive core 17 of the cable 16. The piercing screw 40 passes through a bore 43 of a guide bushing or block 44. One end 45 of the guidev bushing is square and is received in a mating square opening 46 in the base. The bushing has a circular collar 47 which is received in a circular opening 48 in a skirt 49 which projects from the outside surface 5t) of the base. The skirt has an outside surface 5t) of the base. The skirt has an outside surface 5l which is square and which is adapted to snugly engage the side walls 2l of the trough 20. The bushing has a projecting end 53 which is generally rectangular having parallel side walls 54. The end surface 55 is concave being curved as a cylinder whose axis is parallel to the axis of the cable 16, and which is adapted to mate with the outer surface of the cable.

The combined base, bushing, trough, groove and cable are dimensionally designed to cause the cylindrical surface 55 to bear tightly against the cable when the marker light is clamped into position. This assures proper alignment of the piercing screw with the center of the cable core 17 and forms a water tight seal about the cable. Further, the side walls S4 of the projecting end of the bushing are dimensioned for a snug engagement with the side walls 19 of the groove l5 to block transverse movement of the bushing with respect to the groove.

The bushing could be molded integrally with the :rubber base, however, it is preferred to mold the bushing as a separate member of nylon or other plastic, which is dirnensionally stable and which admits of the holding of a desired tolerance. what more rigid than the rubber and assures that it will not compress to the extent that the piercing pin projects beyond the cable core into the quarter panel. On each side of the skirt 49 is an embossment 60 having the crosssectional configuration of the trough 2f) and groove 15. The embossments 60 mate with the trough and groove when the marker light is seated in position on the quarter panel and provide a proper alignment of all the elements of the marker light with the `elements of the `quarter panel, particularly including the conductive cable. In the application of the invention, the bushing is seated in the hole 46 and the skirt 49 and the piercing screw 40 is threaded either all of the way through the bushing or substantially all of the way through the bushing. The base of the marker light is then applied to the quarter panel with the embossment 60, the bushing 44 and the skirt 49 seated in the mating portions of the trough 20 and groove 1S respectively. The screws 33 are then applied to the threaded holes 34 thereby securing the base to the quarter panel and providing the ground connection to the bulb 27. Because of the proper alignment of the base provided by the embossrnent and the rectangular surface of the skirt 49 and the mating rectangular surfaces of the bushing 45 and hole 46, the cylindrical concavity 55 is pressed into tight engagement with the surface of the cable thereby forming the water tight seal referred to above. If the screw d@ has been threaded all the way through the guide bushing, the tightening of the screws 33 to fasten the base to the quarter panel cause the pointed end of the screw 4h to pierce the cable to the conductive core as shown in FIG. 2. On the other hand, if the screw has not been completely threaded through the bushing, after the base is fixed to the quarter panel the screw 4can be given one or two turns to bring the head firmly against the electrical connector 39. The screw and bushing are dimensioned so that when the head of the screw firmly contacts the connector 39, the end of the screw will have been projected precisely into the center of the conductive core 17 of the cable 16.

Further, a nylon bushing is some- We claim:

l. In a vehicle a cargo container having a recessed portion defining a groove,

a cable disposed in `said groove and having a conductive core, said recessed portion having side walls defining the groove extending beyond said cable,

a marker light having a base mounted over said recessed portion,

said base having a hole aligned with said groove,

an insulative bushing having one end configurated to mate with said hole and being disposed in said hole, the other end of said bushing having side walls snugly received between the walls of said groove, said bushing having a transverse hole,

said bushing having an end surface which is concave and which receives said cable when said bushing is in said groove,

a bulb mounted on said base,

a conductive pin having one end electrically connected to said bulb, said pin passing through said transverse hole in said bushing and terminating in said conductive core.

2. In a vehicle a cargo container having `a recessed portion defining a groove,

a cable disposed in said groove and having a conductive core, said recessed portion having side Walls defining said groove extending beyond said cable,

a marker light having a base mounted over said recessed portion,

said base having a hole aligned with said groove,

an insulative bushing having one end congurated to mate with said hole and being disposed in said hole, the other end of said bushing having side walls snugly received between the walls of said groove, said bushing having a transverse hole,

a bulb mounted lon said base,

a conductive pin having one end electrically connected to said bulb, said pin passing through said transverse hole in said bushing and terminating in said conductive core.

3. In a vehicle a cargo container having a recessed portion defining a groove,

a cable disposed in said groove and having a conductive core, said recessed portion having side walls defining said groove extending beyond said cable,

a marker light having a base mounted lover said recessed portion and groove,

said base having a hole aligned with said groove,

an insulative bushing having one end configurated to mate with said hole and being disposed in said hole, the other end of said bushing having side walls snugly received between the wails of said groove, said bushing having a transverse hole,

a bulb mounted on said base,

a conductive pin having :one end electrically connected to said bulb, said pin passing through said tnansverse hole in said bushing and terminating in the center of said cable,

said base having an embossment projecting integrally from said base on each side of said bushing,

said embiossment being congurated to mate with said groove thereby properly aligning said bushing with said groove.

4. In a marker light having a base, a bulb mounted on said base .and a conductive pin connected to said bulb and adapted to project from said base into a conductive cable lying in a groove in a supporting structure, a guide for said pin comprising,

a block of insulative material projectible from the base and having a bore extending therethrough,

said block having surfaces engageable with said groove to prevent transverse movement of said block with respect to sa-id groove,

said bore being aligned with the groove when said block is disposed in said groove whereby said pin passing through said bore will pierce the cable lying in said groove.

5. In a marker light having la base, a bulb mounted on said base and a conductive pin connected to said bulb and adapted to project from said base into a conductive cable lying in a groove in a supporting structure, a guide for said pin comprising,

a block of insulative material yfor mounting in a hole in said base and having a bore extending therethrough,

said block having surfaces enga-geable with said groove to prevent transverse movement of said block with respect to said groove,

said bore being aligned with the groove when said block is disposed in said groove whereby said pin passing through said bore will pierce the cable lying in said groove.

6. In a marker light having a rubber base, a bulb mounted on said base and a conductive pin connected to said bulb and adapted to project from said base into a conductive cable lying in a groove in a supporting structure, a guide for said pin comprising,

a block of insulative material pirojectible fnom the said base and having a bore extending between the inside and outside of said marker light,

said block having surfaces engageable with said groove to prevent transverse movement of said block with respect to said groove,

said block having an end surface concavely curved to engage the surface of said cable,

said bore being aligned with the center of said groove when said block is displosed in said groove whereby said pin passing through said bore will pierce the center of a cable lying in said groove.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,030,817 6/ 1912 Honold 24U-7.1 3,087,051 4/ 1963 Black 24U-7.1 3,187,172 6/ 1965 Knapp 240-8.2

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,151,293 1/1959 Germany.

NEIL C. READ, Primary Examiner.

25 A. I. KASPER, Assistant Examiner. 

4. IN A MARKER LIGHT HAVING A BASE, A BULB MOUNTED ON SAID BASE AND A CONDUCTIVE PIN CONNECTED TO SAID BULB AND ADAPTED TO PROJECT FROM SAID BASE INTO A CONDUCTIVE CABLE LYING IN A GROOVE IN A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, A GUIDE FOR SAID PIN COMPRISING, A BLOCK INSULATIVE MATERIAL PROJECTABLE FROM THE BASE AND HAVING A BORE EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, SAID BLOCK HAVING SURFACES ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID GROOVE TO PREVENT TRANSVERSE MOVEMENT OF SAID BLOCK WITH RESPECT TO SAID GROOVE, SAID BORE BEING ALIGNED WITH THE GROOVE WHEN SAID BLOCK IS DISPOSED IN SAID GROOVE WHEREBY SAID PIN PASSING THROUGH SAID BORE WILL PIERCE THE CABLE LYING IN SAID GROOVE. 